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Terauchi interview transcript, Dick Gordon, 2 Jan 1987

FAA via National Archives / The Black Vault · 20 pages · text from the file's own layer

This FAA record of interview documents a January 2, 1987 session in Anchorage, Alaska, in which Inspector Richard O. Gordon of FSDO-63 questioned JAL Captain Kenju Terauchi about his crew's November 17, 1986 sighting. Terauchi describes two small craft with exhaust-like lights that flew near his aircraft and a much larger mothership, and says the target appeared green on his onboard radar. He also reports VHF interference and says the objects matched his 360-degree turn and his descent.

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“The Times”11 pages

  • p. 2 …Terauchi No, third time . R. Gordon This is the third time that ah that you've…
  • p. 3 …Terauchi Big Ship - yes and the second time ah, the, in my home I saw a…
  • p. 4 …Terauchi I think it was the first time. F . Fujii Who was the first person who…
  • p. 5 …Fujii From the forward you could see the flame and the exhaust and flame were surrounding…
  • p. 6 …This one and this one, the same logic, this point and this point are the same…
  • p. 8 …Fujii When did you pick it up, the radar? K. Terauchi Time? Time? F. Fujii Time…
  • p. 9 …Autopilot stayed on all the time. K. Terauchi Yeah • R. Gordon Okay K. Terauchi Working good…
  • p. 12 …Terauchi See this is the jumbo jet. 1.5, two times this light. R. Gordon Okay…
  • p. 13 …Gordon Yeah, let's see what would you estimate the size of the small ships to…
  • p. 18 …Gordon Yes, yes, you could probably explain that with the thing you have drawn here. Now…
  • p. 20 …See if they were stacked together at the beginning, one must have returned to the mothership…
R. Gordon Digital color?
K. Terauchi Yes colored, digital
R. Gordon Okay, fine, yeah, that's all we need! I don't need to know
numbers. Ah did the target appear on the radar as unusual or; or
solid target or intermitt .••
F. Fujii Was it clear?
K. Terauchi Clearly, clearly
R. Gordon Very clearly
K. Terauchi But, ah, ah, strong, ah return signal is strong in case of a
storm, show ah red, and next yellow.
R. Gordon Okay
? The, but weak is green . . .
R. Gordon Right.
K. Terauchi So ah is green light.
R. Gordon It showed green . . .
K. Terauchi Green
R. Gordon Okay, yeah, that's, that's where even some of the stuff could get
through it, like when you take a picture of a cloud on the
radar •
K. Terauchi Oh yeah •
R. Gordon If it's green, but if it's got heavy rain in it or thunderstorm
in it then it shows red •••
K. Terauchi Yes, yes
R. Gordon So it's light green, maybe the waves can go through this thing.
Okay so it showed green on the radar, on the color radar.
F. Fujii When did you pick it up, the radar?
K. Terauchi Time? Time?
F. Fujii Time, is it by time, when?
R. Gordon Oh after, how long after you saw it with your eyes did you pick
it up on the radar?
K. Terauchi Okay ah, um seven minutes , five minute, makes it twelve minutes,
so, ah, fifteen minutes after contact.
7

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Hearing transcript, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 20 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.